


The Queens' Mercy

by WhatOtherPlanet



Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, Fae & Fairies, Fantasy AU, Just a goofy little one-shot I cooked up in a haze, Worldbuilding because this is me we're talking about, frosen steel week i guess!!!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 20:48:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,863
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27312865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatOtherPlanet/pseuds/WhatOtherPlanet
Summary: An intruder arrives in the Eastern Woods. Again.Whatarethe Queens of Jade and Snow to do with her?
Relationships: Penny Polendina/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Penny Polendina/Weiss Schnee
Comments: 10
Kudos: 58





	The Queens' Mercy

Once upon a time, the two Queens of the Eastern Wood caught a certain mortal woman wandering through their domain.

Then it was twice upon a time. Thrice upon a time. And the Queens figured that Thrice would be the end of it, because faeries are particularly fond of the rule of threes and generally assume everyone else is too. But then thrice became... four. Then five. Then six. Seven. When the intruder appeared for an eighth time on the night of the full moon, the Snow Queen's patience had well and truly run out.

"How many times must we teach you this lesson?" she demanded of the woman before her.

Despite being in the precarious position of having her legs bound in spider silk and hung upside down from a tall tree in the Queens' personal court, the mortal crossed her arms and affected an nearly-adorable pout. "You could like, put up signs? I'm a  _ hunter. _ How am I supposed to make a living if I can't go into the woods? Y'know, _ where the deer live?" _

The Snow Queen pinched the bridge of her nose, which was beginning to form indents. It was times like these that she truly questioned the design of the world. Mortals were the worst. Who needed them, anyway? Always bumbling about and getting their oily little fingers into things they didn't understand and making reckless deals and complaining when things didn't go their way. Sure it was fun  _ sometimes  _ but it quickly wore thin. And  _ this  _ mortal in particular, with her cute little red cloak and her big, silver eyes that seemed to catch the moonlight at all the most beautiful angles, was far and away the most persistent pain in her backside since she'd slaughtered her monstrous father for the throne.

She was mollified a bit by a gentle hand coming to rest on her shoulder. "You tripped over one of our Circles and disrupted one of our sacred dances," the Jade Queen said, trying to inject sternness into her tone. She wasn't very good at it—she was blushing rather fiercely as she tried to keep her face looking cross—but Weiss always found it utterly adorable. Dearest Penelope had a softness for mortals, and the Snow Queen suspected that she had a secret fondness for this mortal in particular.

"Twice," the Snow Queen amended, having a  _ much  _ easier time looking cross. "Normally the punishment for that is death."

The woman's silver eyes popped wide, her rosy lips sucking in as she went rigid. "Death???"

"Yes," the Snow Queen groaned out. The woman shut her eyes and flinched back, apparently expecting the Queens to deliver the punishment themselves.  _ Such impertinence, even now. _ The Snow Queen sighed ruefully. "However," she continued. "In deference to your young age and the fact that your trespasses genuinely seem to be bred of ineptitude and cluelessness, we have elected to show you one— _ final— _ mercy."

The mortal peeked one shining eye open. "So, I'm not going to die?"

"No, you very well might," the Jade Queen said.

"More than likely," the Snow Queen agreed.

"Oh." The woman paused. "What's this... 'might' about then? Not that I'm all that mighty, I mean—" she gestured down (up) at her physique. "I'm strong, but not like, y'know,  _ strong? _ "

The Jade Queen suppressed a giggle, and the Snow Queen pinched the bridge of her nose more firmly.  _ Behave yourself, Dear Penelope. _

Out loud, she said, "You will have to complete a set of deadly trials for us, as is our custom."

"Great, let me just get my lawyer." The woman looked back and forth between the two Queens in the ensuing silence. "No? Dang it, the puns worked for Yang!"

_ "This idiot..." _ the Snow Queen muttered.

_ "Don't be rude, Dear Weiss," _ the Jade Queen whispered back, tapping her on the shoulder before returning her attention to the mortal. "Your first task will be to gather silver honey from the Black Apiary to the south."

"Oh, what?" The mortal blinked, and then glanced down at her backpack, which was lying rumpled on the ground. "How much do you need? I've got like, half a jar."

"Wh—" the Snow Queen paused to collect herself before the infuriation overwhelmed her. "The Clan of the Black Fang are the most ferocious warriors in the seven lands—"

"Yeah, my sister is dating their princess? She brings back jars of honey all the time." Ruby shrugged. "But, uh, you can have some if you want? It goes great with toast."

The Jade Queen stood up from her ebony throne. Her gown of woven ivy shifted and flowed around her body, briefly revealing flashes of the smooth-polished mahogany of her skin beneath. It melded into the soil and grew as she moved, forming a carpet of life that traced her bare footsteps. The vines wove through her hair as well, thin lines through the vivid orange, coming together to form a circlet atop her head.

Weiss sighed, leaning on her throne of pine and smiling faintly as she watched her wife kneel down to rummage through the mortal's backpack. Dear Penny truly was the fairest of them all, especially in the moon's light.

Then she noticed the mortal was also staring down at the Jade Queen, and her eyes narrowed. The mortal glanced at her, did a red-faced double-take, and then abruptly looked away and started to whistle idly.

(Weiss noted that she was almost cute when she was embarrassed. Almost. Surely, almost.)

"Found it! Right between the Golden Tusk of the Auroboar and the Witch-King's Lost Pearl," the Jade Queen announced, standing up with a jar in hand.

The Snow Queen sighed, palming her face. "Well, so much for..." Then, her mind caught up with what her wife had just said. "Between  _ what?" _

"The Golden Tusk of the Auroboar and the Witch-King's Lost..." the Jade Queen trailed off. "Oh. Right, well, that's all three trials then."

The Snow Queen's nose was pinched again. The mortal had the good gumption to look abashed. "...Whoops?"

The Jade Queen couldn't hold back her giggle this time, and looked at the mortal with a sudden unrestrained fondness in her jade-carved eyes. "You are quite a funny girl."

"Oh!" The woman's blush increased again. "Um, well, thanks, y'know. I try."

The Snow Queen stared between the two of them for a long moment, the many branches of her mind rustling in a complex breeze. "One final test," she said, her voice suddenly as cold as her title.

The Jade Queen suddenly looked at her, her eyes wide in shock, but The Snow Queen just glared and raised her eyebrows. The Jade Queen paused in confusion, then gave her an apologetic look.

"Um, okay???" the mortal said.

"A simple question," the Snow Queen said, her scowl growing. "Who would you rather lie with? My wife, or me?"

The mortal sputtered.

The Jade Queen turned her head away, closing her eyes. She knew what the question really meant, of course. If the mortal should answer the Jade Queen, the Snow Queen would be bound to banish her for daring to solicit her wife. If she should answer the Snow Queen, said Queen would be obliged to strike her down for denying her wife's beauty.

It was a trick, and a spiteful one. Not one the Snow Queen was proud of, but she used her jealousy to justify it to herself.

...Even if the mortal was admittedly rather cute, and the Snow Queen would perhaps miss her when she was gone.

...Even if her Dear Penelope looked absolutely crushed by what was about to happen.

...In fact, upon consideration the Snow Queen found she quite regretted issuing such a cruel gambit. A pang of unfamiliar guilt welled up in her at her momentary lapse in judgement, and she opened her mouth to retract her words before the mortal made a lethal mistake with her answer. 

But, the girl answered first regardless.

"Well, I mean, you're both really gorgeous and I mean okay to be honest I brought all this stuff to give to you guys anyway since I was gonna ask if I could just get your permission to hunt in the forest but also because y'know I've met you both a few times now and you seem kinda cool honestly aside from the threatening to murder me thing anyway I guess what I'm saying if I'm being absolutely honest is that I'd want to sleep with both of you?" The girl clapped her hands over her mouth, mortified.

A pause. A nearby stream giggled over its bed, the trees barely containing their laughter as they swayed in a hilarious wind.

Dear Penelope turned to stare at Weiss. Weiss stared back.

"I mean, y'know, not that I'd ever think to, um, imply that you would ever, y'know... do that. With me." The mortal was fidgeting, swaying in her silk bindings. "I mean, y'know, you guys are married, or faerie married or whatever. ...Faerried? Heh. UM. Not that there's anything wrong with that! But y'know you seem like you've got a good thing going and I don't want to intrude though I mean it was you who asked so I guess I dunno it'd be fine if you're both..." The girl took a second to breathe. "Ooookay I'm just... I'm just gonna do the shutting up now."

Penny tilted her head, her orange tresses bobbing adorably. "Okay, you  _ have  _ to admit she's cute," she said.

Weiss groaned. "Yes yes I  _ know, _ let me think."

"UM."

"And not another peep out of you." The Snow Queen pondered for a moment. "We'll need to teach her how to mind her words. And her feet."

"She seems like she'd be a quick learner!" Penny said. The vines of her dress were twisting around her, radiating the eager excitement that she was just barely able to keep off her face.

The Snow Queen couldn't say no to that look, and there was absolutely  _ no way _ Weiss could.

"Oh alright," she groaned. She dispelled the gossamer threads with a flick of her wrist, and the mortal tumbled to the ground in a heap. "Tell us your name, human."

Penelope looked at her in surprise, for to ask and receive someone's name—and not merely their title—was to give them a home in your mind. It was a promise, and not one made idly.

But somehow, Weiss knew that she would not come to regret such vulnerability. There had been a current in the wind from their very first meeting, and it had the sound of destiny, if not the flavor.

(This was also, perhaps, a fair repayment for nearly killing the mortal. That's how the Snow Queen justified it to herself, anyhow.)

The woman sprang to her feet, still as yet oblivious to the subtleties at play all around her. "Ruby Rose, Your Ma'amjesties! Oh. Um."

Weiss sighed again, lowering her face into her hands as Ruby fought to pull a twig out of her messy hair.  _ Oh stars help us all, I think I might grow to love her. _

And that is how the Rose Queen first came to the Eastern Wood.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not usually good with events and stuff but I _couldn't_ miss Frosen Steel Week completely. So, I whipped this up. No idea where this concept came from, kinda just riffed around with a few different ideas and let it go where it went.
> 
> I'mma be real with yinz, I've been doing _bad_ lately. Panoply isn't dead, but it's struggling as I've been going through some major life readjustments and just, general mental health fuckery. Idk when I'll be putting out more pollination-y stuff. Hopefully soon, but I honestly couldn't tell you. Thank you all for your kudos and comments and love, I promise I read all of it, even if I haven't been quite as on top of responding to everything lately.
> 
> Thanks to FriendofYggdrasil for the quick beta! And thank you all for reading!


End file.
